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OSU strives for diversity among faculty
OSU's campus is reflective of Oregon's diversity as a whole
Lauren Sigel
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: News
According to a 2000 demographic survey done by the U.S Census Bureau, 86.6 percent of the Oregon population was listed as Caucasian.
The OSU faculty reflects this trend in the state's population.
"A lot of campuses have international diversity in their faculty, but are not well represented in the domestic diversity department," said Terryl Ross, the director of Community and Diversity office.
"I feel that the OSU campus wants to improve itself in this area, but it's an uphill battle due to the fact that a lot of historically underrepresented groups have preconceived notions of Oregon."
Domestic diversity is the representation of historically underrepresented groups that are found in the U. S., as opposed to international diversity, which is the representation of groups found outside the United States.
"Higher education is one of the most non-diverse professions in America. Student bodies in the last 20 years have become much more diverse than the faculty. For example, people of color with PhDs have increased over 300 percent, but faculty of color has increased by only 17 percent," Ross said. "If a student doesn't know how to interact with a person from a historically underrepresented group, then they are not going to do well outside of Oregon because one third of people in America are non-white."
Angelo Gomez, director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, and Anne Giles, the Affirmative Action Associate, are both aware that fighting for diversity in the OSU faculty - and higher education in general - is an uphill battle.
"There is a long history behind what higher education has looked like, especially in Oregon where we have a history of being less diverse due to our legal political history," Giles said.
"If you are a person of a historically underrepresented group and you come to Oregon, there are not a lot of established communities for people who have the same cultural pasts and interests as you do."
The OSU faculty reflects this trend in the state's population.
"A lot of campuses have international diversity in their faculty, but are not well represented in the domestic diversity department," said Terryl Ross, the director of Community and Diversity office.
"I feel that the OSU campus wants to improve itself in this area, but it's an uphill battle due to the fact that a lot of historically underrepresented groups have preconceived notions of Oregon."
Domestic diversity is the representation of historically underrepresented groups that are found in the U. S., as opposed to international diversity, which is the representation of groups found outside the United States.
"Higher education is one of the most non-diverse professions in America. Student bodies in the last 20 years have become much more diverse than the faculty. For example, people of color with PhDs have increased over 300 percent, but faculty of color has increased by only 17 percent," Ross said. "If a student doesn't know how to interact with a person from a historically underrepresented group, then they are not going to do well outside of Oregon because one third of people in America are non-white."
Angelo Gomez, director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, and Anne Giles, the Affirmative Action Associate, are both aware that fighting for diversity in the OSU faculty - and higher education in general - is an uphill battle.
"There is a long history behind what higher education has looked like, especially in Oregon where we have a history of being less diverse due to our legal political history," Giles said.
"If you are a person of a historically underrepresented group and you come to Oregon, there are not a lot of established communities for people who have the same cultural pasts and interests as you do."
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